IT ISN'T a league table which many fans take much notice of or which offers the winners a trophy to parade around. Nor is it necessarily a measure of a club's true wealth or financial health.

But there is real cause for celebration today in seeing Everton Football Club break into the Top 20 of football's rich list.

Because it is a significant achievement and one which ultimately connects to the success or otherwise of the team.

Credit must go not just to manager David Moyes but also to the club's hierarchy and the new back of the shop regime which has now put the Blues back on the financial map of Europe.

There is no doubt that two years ago Everton were in serious danger of being left behind in terms of the club's commercial operations, its marketing activity and its money generating methods.

Put brutally, England's fourth most successful football club was looking old fashioned and stale in the way it was going about its business. As an organisation alone, it was badly under-performing.

When new chief executive Keith Wyness was brought in by Bill Kenwright and gave his first presentation to shareholders about the state of the Goodison nation, he laid out some very unpalatable truths to a hushed audience.

The Blues were not operating in the modern age, nor generating the money needed to keep them competing at the top level.

Yet, as well as delivering the home truths which didn't sit easily, Wyness also offered clear solutions.

Yes, some have been unpopular - raising ticket prices and the hiking-up cost of revamped corporate facilities has been painful and controversial. But the fans have taken the increases on the chin and continue to turn up in numbers which most professional clubs can only dream about.

New club shops have been opened in the city centre and in Wirral and Chester, with fans targeted in new high street areas.

And the recent deal to hand over the shirt sales and the entire retailing operation means Everton maybe sacrificing some income to their partners JJB. But in return they are getting a stable revenue stream from the deal and letting those with the real expertise in this area employ it for them.

So, when Everton appear with the big boys in today's table, it is not just a reflection of Moyes' success in taking the team to fourth place in the Premier-ship last year.

It is also a sure sign that the club is starting to get things right behind the scenes and beginning to generate the cash which must ultimately be used to develop the team with sureness and confidence over the longer term.

Massive issues remain, including where the Blues might fund and build a new stadium.

But today we are seeing the green shoots of recovery in Everton's financial fortunes. Heaven help us when supporters get pleasure from leagues like these or are expected to applaud the men in suits.

But a satisfactory nod of approval from Evertonians towards those administrators at Good-ison is worth thinking about.